Fluid applicator for cap making machines



May 29, 1956 v. A. NAVlKAS FLUID APPLICATOR F OR CAP MAKING MACHINES 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 3, 1955 INVENTOR VICTOR A NAVIKAS ATTORNEY May29, 1956 v. A. NAVIKAS 2,747,543

FLUID APPLICATOR FOR CAP MAKING MACHINES Filed June 3, 1953 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR VICTOR A. NAVIKAS ATTORNEY United States PatentFLUID APPLICATOR FOR CAP MAKING MACHINES Victor A. Navikas, LancasterTownship, Lancaster County, Pa.,-assignor-t Armstrong Cork Company,Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 3, 1953,Serial No. 359,376

3 Claims. (Cl. 118-241) present therein through which leakage occurs. Inorder to ,prevent the contents of the container from coming in contactwith the surface of the liner, two systems have been used. One of themost common is to secure a spot of sheet material, such as varnishedpaper, metal foil,

etc to the center of the crown liner so thatjthe entire area of theliner exposed to the neck opening of the bottle is covered'by thisspotting material.

Another system which is used extensively for the sealing of beverages,for example, where the period of time during which the bottle is sealedis relatively short, has "been to coat the liner with a fluid coatingmaterial which renders the liner relatively impervious to the contentsof the bottle. Oneof the rnost common coating materials used vfor thispurpose is paraflin wax.

This coating operation is difficult, inasmuchas it is essential that thecoating composition be printed intermittently to a continuous line ofcrowns passing along on a-conveyor at a relatively high rate of speed.It is essential that a controlled amount of coating composition beapplied to properlycoat the liner but at the same time avoid an excessmeet the material. This isparticularly diflicult when using coatingcompositions in which the fluidity changes with changes in temperature,making it necessary to maintain the fluid within'a limited temperaturerange for proper applicatio'n.

One of the prior art systems which has been widely used is carried outby placing a quantity of cork liners in a tumbling device together withsolid pieces of paraflin wax. The device is -tumbled for a period oftime sufficiently long to allow the liners to come in contact with "theparafiin wax-to coat all the liners. One o'fithe chief disadvantages "ofthis system is that both sides at the -'l'i'ner =are coated, -whencoating on ones'ide only is desirable. In addition' to'this unnecessaryuse of wax, it is also diflicult to properly adhere the waxed liners tocrown closure shells because the adhesive does not have an aihnity forthe waxed surface of the liner.

In another system currently used by the industry, the parafiin coatingoperation is performed by a rotary applicator having a plurality ofapplying pads positioned on the extremity of rods radiating from acentral hub. This rotary device is located in the path of travel of thelined crowns in such manner that one of the pads contacts the liner of acrown as the crown passes thereunder. The pad then passes over a rollerwhich rotates in the fluid reservoir and picks up sufiicient coatingmaterial for the next application. This is not a completely satisfactory2,747,543 Patented May 29, 1956 device for performing the-coatingop'eration, inasmuch as there is a tendency for the coating material'tosplash onto the working parts of the assembly 'rnachineas well as ontothe skirt of the crowns being manufactured. This not only has adeleterious effect on the articles being produced, but also results in aconsiderable waste of coating material. Here, too, there is a problem ofapplying an excess of paraflin which flakes oif and -contaminates thecontents of the bottle. The problem of temperature control to keep theparaffin at the proper consistency is present in this system.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art devicesdescribed above, I have developeda capillary type coating device whichwill apply a controlled amount of fluid to the exact area of the linerto be coated, with no waste of material and no deleterious eflYectresulting to the article being produced or to the equipment utilized inproducing the article.

An object of this invention is to provide a coating device which willsupply a controlled amount of fluid to a limited area of the article tobe coated.

Another object of this invention is to provide a coating device whichwill apply the desired amount'of material to the article Without wastingany of the relatively expensive coating material.

Other objects and advantages of this device will be apparent from anobservation of the attached drawings in which: V

Figure 1 shows the component parts of the device;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the applicator; and

Figure '3 shows the device inposition to apply the coating.

Referring to Figure Z, there is shown a hollowsleeve 0r cylinder 2 whichis placed on the machine for reciprocatory motion in a verticaldirection. This cylinder 2 serves as a reservoir for the fluid coatingmaterial. An adapter ring 3 fits over the lower extremity of thecylinder 2 and is formed to fit the interior of a crown closure or otherarticle to which the coating material is to be applied. The adapter 3has an opening 4 which is pro 'vided with a convex diaphragm -5 havingopenings therein. The size of'the openings in the diaphragm 5 selectedin accordance with the fluidity of the fluid coating'cornposition. Abovethe diaphragm 5 is a plurality-of 1 felt pads '6. These pads 6 may be ofany composition capable of absorbing and holding a supply of the fluidmaterial to be fed to the diaphragm. -The pads 6 are shown in smallinc'r'em'ents'for convenience of assembling. If de- 's'ired,thisabsorptive element may be in one piece. Above the absorptive elemento isa back-up plug 7, which keeps the'absorptive element under a certainamount of compression to keep supplying the fluid to the screen 5.

Pressure is applied to the back-up plug 7 by means of-a coil spring '8,which is compressed between the top 'ring9 fittedover the top oft-hecylinder and 'the back-up-plng 7. The top of the cylinder is open asshown atlil for the purpose of supplying the liquid coating compositionto the cylinder. In order to maintain the coating composition at -thepr'op'er trriperatur'e lfor application, the cylind'er may be heated'bymea'ns ot' a resistance heating element 11 wrapped around the outercircumference of the cylinder.

In applying a coating composition to the article to be coated, thedevice is lowered into the article as the article passes therebeneath ona suitable conveyor as shown in Figure 3. This arrangement issatisfactory for relatively low-speed production; however, in high-speedproduction, such as that currently existing in the closure industry, ithas been found desirable to lower the applicator into engagement withthe crown on the conveyor and have the applicator travel with the crownon the conveyor while the coating operation is being performed. Thereare several possibilities for carrying out this idea, and onewhich hasbeen found particularly suitable involves the utilization of a rotarycarrier placed immediately above the rotary conveyor carrying the linedcrowns away from thelining machine. The coating applicators are arrangedon the carrier so that they are disposed in alignment with the crownscarried on the conveyor. During a certain portion of the rotary cycle oftheapplicator carrier, each applicator is lowered into the crown movingdirectly therebeneath so that the applicator is in engagement with thecrown liner during a portion of its path of travel on the conveyor.

, In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, downward motion is imparted tothe device through the crosshead 1 2 from a suitable source, not shown.This crosshead 12 is secured to the cylinder Zby welding or othersuitable means. The crosshead 13 at the lower portion of the cylinder 2serves only as a guide for the cylinder 2 as the cylinder moves throughan opening therein. The upward motion to the cylinder 2 into crosshead12 is effected by the coil springs 14 which are under compressionbetween the two crossheads 12 and 13.

Each time the crosshead 12 is raised, it contacts microswitch 15,closing the electric circuit to the valve arrangement 16, opening thevalve and permitting a metered quantity of the coating material to flowfrom the source of supply 17 into the open end of the cylinder 2.

In the operation of the device, the crown 18 or other object to becoated is placed in position beneath the cylinder 2 and the cylinder isloweredso that the adapter 3 fits into the inner area of the crown. Thecentral portion of the diaphragm contacts the liner of the closure,flexing the diaphragm and causing the fluid composition to pass throughthe screen onto the closure liner. A slight I continued downwardmovement of the plunger will flatten the diaphragm against the surfaceof the liner and apply a uniform layer of the coating composition to theliner. The assembly is then withdrawn from the crown and lowered intoanother crown, where the operation is repeated.

The relationship between the size of the holes in the diaphragm and theviscosity of the coating composition should be such that the fluid willnot pass through the holes in the diaphragm when the same is not incontact with an article to be coated. When the diaphragm is brought intoengagement with the article to be coated, the center of the convexdiaphragm contacts first in the center of the disc to be coated.Continued downward movement of the assembly causes the diaphragm to flexupwardly, compressing the felt pads to a limited extent. Thiscompression of the felt pads is suflicient to force a limited amount ofthe fluid coating material through the diaphragm onto the surface of thedisc. Because the center of'the convex diaphragm touches first in thecenter of the disc liner, the fluid passes through the diaphragm in thiscenter area first and flows evenly in a radialdirection from the centerover the area to be coated, forming a uniform coating of the desiredthickness.

proper size has been selected for a fluid of a given fluidity it isessential that the devicee be maintained at a relatively uniformtemperature to insure proper application of the coating composition tothe lining material.

I claim:

1. In a device for applying a relatively viscous coating composition toa surface to be coated, the elements comprising a reservoir, a core ofabsorbent material disposed in said reservoir, a flexible diaphragmdisposed across one end of said reservoir andin engagement with saidcore of absorbent material, a resilient member in engagement with theother end of said core of absorbent material to urge said core firmlyinto engagement with said flexible diaphragm, said flexible diaphragmbeing provided with openings through which the liquid passes when thediaphragm is'flexed to further compress the core material, the openingsin said diaphragm being of a size that the fluid will not passtherethrough normally but will pass through when the diaphragm isflexed,and means 7 for bringing said flexible diaphragm into engagement withthe article to be coated with suflicient force to flex said diaphragmand for elevating said diaphragm away from said article. 7 V

2. In a device for applying a relatively viscous coatin composition to asurface to be coated, the elements comprising a reservoir, a flexiblediaphragm disposed across one end of said reservoir, means for holding asupply of the fluid coating composition in contact with said flexiblediaphragm, said flexible diaphragm being provided with openings throughwhich the liquid passes. when the diaphragm is flexed, the openings insaid diaphragm being of a size that the fluid will not pass therethroughnormally but will pass through when the diaphragm is flexed, and meansfor bringing said flexible diaphragm into engagement with the article tobe coated with sufficient force to flex said diaphragm and for elevatingsaid diaphragm away from said article.

It will be understood that in utilizing this invention the flowabilityof the coating composition determines the size of the holes in thediaphragm. Thus for the more viscous fluids larger holes will benecessary than for the more fluid materials. After the diaphragm withholes of the e I 3. In a device for applying a relatively viscouscoating composition to a surface to be coated, the elements comprising areservoir, a core of absorbent material disposed in said reservoir, aflexible diaphragm disposed across one end of said reservoir and inengagement with said core of absorbent material, means for urging saidcore of absorbent material into. firm engagement with said flexiblediaphragm, said flexible diaphragm being provided with openings throughwhich the liquid passes when the dia phragm is flexed to furthercompress the core material, the openings in said diaphragm being of asize that the fluid will not pass therethrough normally but willpassthrough when the diaphragm is flexed, and means for bringing saidflexible diaphragm into engagement with the article to be coated withsutficient force to flex said diaphragm and for elevating said diaphragmaway from said article.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS962,619 BuflFelen June 28, 1910 1,315,305 Hegland Sept. 9, 1919 I1,724,070 Byrne et a1. Aug. 13, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 538,190 GreatBritain July 24, 1941

